Yareliz Mendez Zamora from the American Friends Service Committee reports an increase in arrivals at the Miramar Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, where she assists families with their cases weekly. On Wednesday, July 29, 2026, Mendez Zamora observed activities that raise concerns outside the facility.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a procurement request for a new immigration detention facility in the Miami area. The request seeks a contractor-operated facility with a minimum of 700 beds within a 50-mile radius of the ICE Miami Field Office located at 865 SW 78 Ave., Plantation. This request is part of national efforts to secure more detention facilities for ICE detainees.
The intended facility must provide comprehensive services, including medical and mental health care, transportation, guard services, food service, and detention services. The proposal states that the contractor will furnish all personnel, management, equipment, supplies, and services required for contract execution.
DHS also targets facilities with 1,800 beds in Philadelphia and 1,500 beds each in Seattle and Denver. This move follows the closure of Alligator Alcatraz, Florida’s criticized immigration detention center in the Everglades, and anticipated enforcement intensification by the Trump administration following Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status designation’s termination.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court permitted DHS to proceed in ending TPS for over 300,000 Haitians amidst ongoing legal disputes in lower courts. Immigration advocates and Haitian communities nationwide voice concerns over potential ICE raid increases necessitating additional detention capacity.
Advocates from the American Friends Service Committee and the Florida Immigrant Coalition protested outside the Miramar ICE facility on Wednesday. They criticized rising arrests throughout South Florida and local governments’ growing involvement in promoting federal immigration actions. Billy Botsch of the American Friends Service Committee noted unusual activities such as a company known for temporary structures conversing with ICE officials and portable toilet installations, suggesting inadequate internal facilities.
Botsch added changes in people’s processing at the facility, observing new temporary setups and altered intake procedures not utilizing the garage for direct building entry. The ICE field office declined to comment, while a DHS spokesperson noted that the agency does not discuss future operations but maintains daily enforcement nationwide.
Yareliz Mendez Zamora shared observations of families being moved from the Miramar facility to hotels prior to deportation. “When it comes to families, what we’ve seen is that they’re held here for a couple of hours, maybe a day, and then they’re sent to a hotel, and so at that hotel is where they’re not allowed to contact anybody,” Mendez stated. She highlighted instances of silence exceeding 24 hours before deportation.
Miami Herald journalists Morgan Mullings and Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report. Charles has extensively covered Haiti and the Caribbean region for over ten years, earning her a Pulitzer Prize finalist nod for her 2010 Haiti earthquake coverage and the 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize for her Americas reporting.